Paul Jacob Bins (1971) also known as “PJ”, has been instrumental in scaling Green Gold Label since 2016, guiding its growth from an early certification scheme into a globally recognized platform for verifying the sustainability of biomass. As former Chairman of the Foundation (2017–2021) and now Member of its Board, he is committed to maintaining the integrity and independence of GGL’s governance.

Paul Jacob plays a leading role in negotiations with the Dutch and Japanese governments and engages directly with the European Commission to align GGL with evolving sustainability regulations. He brings deep expertise in biomass certification and greenhouse gas emission regulations, with hands-on involvement in technical standard-setting for sustainability, market modularization across Europe and Asia, and the design of GGL’s full chain-of-custody and traceability models.

Beyond bioenergy, PJ’s broader focus lies in the decarbonization of global shipping — a complex, hard-to-abate sector increasingly linked to bio-based and renewable fuels, ISO14065-accredited certification of GHG emissions and verification protocols of water discharges. Over the past 20 years, he has successfully led and scaled multiple ventures in certification, maritime and offshore services, including Vessel Performance Centre, VesselIQ, and DecomPartners. Earlier in his career, he was a McKinsey consultant specializing in energy production and CEO of Euroports and APM Terminals (AP Møller-Mærsk Group) businesses in Western Europe.

PJ is a Dutch national, married, and father of two daughters.

Judith Mathijssen is is responsible for the development, implementation and continuous improvement of the certification scheme for sustainable biomass. She brings over 20 years’ experience in ESG and impact management, assurance systems, and international programme governance, gained across the private (i.a. Rand Europe, Ecorys, Lendahand), and public sectors (i.a.. EC, World Bank, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs) in her roles as international development consultant and Impact Manager.

At GGL, Judith leads alignment of the certification scheme with FIT/FIP and related implementing regulations. She oversees certification requirements, verification protocols and risk-based compliance mechanisms across the biomass supply chain. She manages the global network of independent certification bodies, ensuring consistent interpretation and application of regulatory and GHG criteria, and strengthens audit quality through guidance, training and oversight.

Judith has extensive experience in designing and operationalising ESG and sustainability frameworks, including monitoring, reporting and verification systems aligned with international standards. Previously, as Impact Manager at Lendahand and as an independent consultant, she has led the development and implementation of impact and ESG policies, monitoring frameworks, and reporting processes, with a strong focus on data quality, auditability, and transparency.

She combines strong programme governance with hands-on experience in building and scaling systems and organisations. She has contributed to the development of regulated financial platforms, including alignment with EU regulatory frameworks, and has led stakeholder engagement with public- and private-sector actors.

Her sector expertise includes renewable energy, agriculture, impact investing and health systems, with extensive experience in emerging markets and complex value chains.

Kees Boon (1952) received his forestry training in Arnhem on the HBCS in 1970-1974. In his working life he served in Surinam, Indonesia and Netherlands and travelled in several countries. In Surinam he started his career with the National Forest Service on a reforestation project in the interior tropical rainforest.

In the Netherlands he was involved in the design, planting and management of the forests in the newly developed polders in the Lake Ijsselmeer. On the Indonesian island Java he acted as forest specialist in a combined Indonesian-Dutch team for a rural development project aiming a reducing impact of the local population on the remaining mountainous forest to prevent further erosion.

After having served the marketing and round wood sales dept. of the Dutch national Forest Service he stepped over to the private sector in 1992 in the capacity of chairman of 2 branch organizations. One representing entrepreneurs in round wood trade and the other representing entrepreneurs in the wood preservation industry.

In 2008 he established the sustainable forest management certification scheme PEFC in the Netherlands. Kees has a good understanding of the policy making on national and EU level and has a good understanding of forestry practices in various countries.

Jaap Versteegh advises on and develops software for solving engineering problems and communicate with sensors and hardware in order to facilitate progress and innovation. Within the GGL Programme Management Office, Jaap is responsible for all IT-related matters including the digital transaction system GGLedger launched in 2025.

He has 30 years of experience in software development and IT in the engineering and in other fields. His own company Orca Software that provides software development and IT services to several clients. Orca Software developed a software platform for Damen Shipyards, managed OT software security for ECT and developed a digital twin for VesselIQ.

He is a self-employed technical software engineer with an education in engineering and more than twenty years of programming experience with Python, C++, C and Delphi on Linux, MS Windows and embedded environments. His experience with development tools like git and subversion and databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL facilitate multi-disciplinary teams to cooperate effectively. He has worked with various API’s and frameworks and libraries like Boost, Qt etc. and has a working knowledge of Fortran, PHP, C#, Java and javascript.

His interests include anything maritime, physics, (flow) simulation and artificial intelligence, but are in no way limited to that. Specialties: Engineering Software, Scientific Computing, Linking with hardware.

Harm van Esterik (1968) has joined Green Gold Label bringing broad financial and general management acumen. Harm has over two decades of international leadership experience, with a strong focus on commercial strategy, organizational development and sustainable value chains. He brings a proven track record in scaling businesses and driving transformation within the food, beverage and consumer goods sectors.

As Managing Director of de Smaakspecialist, he is responsible for the company’s strategic direction and its role in advancing organic and sustainable food supply chains across Europe. He is closely involved in strengthening transparency, quality standards and market access for certified sustainable products, contributing to the broader transition towards responsible sourcing and consumption.

Prior to this, Harm built an extensive international career at AB InBev, where he held several senior leadership positions, including Managing Director roles in the Netherlands and Germany. In these roles, he was responsible for commercial performance, market development and leading large-scale operations in complex and highly regulated environments.

Harm combines strong analytical capabilities with a pragmatic and people-oriented leadership style. He has significant experience in building high-performing organizations, implementing strategic change and delivering sustainable business results in international markets.

Harm is a Dutch national, married and father of two daughters and a son.